The Respondent’s legal counsel Muhammad Azhar (right) at the examination hearing for Case No. 88/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 on the Pagar Alam mayoral election results dispute, Friday (1/17) in the panel 3 courtroom. Photo by MKRI/Bayu.

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JAKARTA (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) held an examination hearing on the 2024 Pagar Alam mayoral election results dispute petition, filed by Candidate Pair 01 Hepy Safriani–Efsi. The hearing to hear the Respondent, the Relevant Party, and Bawaslu for Case No. 88/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025 was presided over by Constitutional Justice Arief Hidayat (panel chair), Enny Nurbaningsih, and Foekh on Friday, January 17, 2025, in the panel 3 Courtroom.

The General Elections Commission (KPU), represented by Muhammad Azhar, clarified that candidate pairs have the right to raise objections to the recapitulation of vote results. However, as previously explained by the Respondent, the Petitioners’ witnesses had not raised any objections or complaints at the TPS (polling station) recapitulation level. Furthermore, had the Petitioners raised concerns regarding significant issues at the district level, Bawaslu (Elections Supervisory Body) would have issued appropriate recommendations. Yet, up to the final stage of recapitulation, no recommendations were issued by the Pagar Alam City Bawaslu concerning the district-level recapitulation process. “Since no recommendations or reports of special incidents were made at the district level, we conclude that there were no issues,” he emphasized.

In the petition, Azhar noted, the specifics of the case were nearly identical to those in Case No. 74/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025. “The subject matter of our case is almost the same as that in Case No. 74. It is assumed that we have read it, Your Honors,” he said.

The Respondent requested the Court to declare the Pagar Alam City KPU Decree No. 279 of 2024 concerning the certification of the 2024 Pagar Alam City mayoral election results dated December 4, 2024 true and valid. Similarly, the Pagar Alam City Bawaslu, represented by Nurwenih, delivered the same testimony as that for Case No. 74/PHPU.WAKO-XXIII/2025.

In its written statement, Pagar Alam City Bawaslu emphasized that they had fulfilled their duty to prevent violations and disputes during the stage of recapitulation and election results certification. This was done by sending an appeal to the Pagar Alam City KPU via a letter dated November 27, 2024, urging the KPU to adhere to the applicable laws and regulations while recapitulating the vote counting results.

Additionally, Pagar Alam City Bawaslu received a report of alleged election violations on November 29, 2024, based on a report for, which primarily concerned an alleged election violation related to the anomalous use of ballots for special voters.

Meanwhile, the Relevant Party, represented by Andi Saputro, stated that the Petitioners had claimed to have discovered administrative violations at several TPS (polling stations). However, there were no objection forms or special incident reports completed and signed by the Petitioners at the polling stations where the alleged administrative violations had occurred.

Andi said, “The Petitioners only filed an objection at the district plenary meeting and Pagar Alam City-level plenary meeting after realizing that the Respondent’s vote acquisition was not the highest.”

Also read: Allegations of Final Voter List Manipulation in Pagar Alam Mayoral Election

The Petitioners requested the annulment of the certification of the 2024 Pagar Alam Mayoral Election Results announced by the Pagar Alam City KPU (Respondent). Based on the recapitulation results, Candidate Pair Hepy Safriani-Efsi received 29,538 votes, Candidate Pair 02 Alpian-Alfikriansyah obtained 29,231 votes, while Candidate Pair 03 Ludi Oliansyah-Bertha reached 33,672 votes. The Petitioners highlighted the difference of 4,134 votes with the most-voted pair and suspected that there had been structured, systematic, and massive violations.

The Petitioners argued that the violations had occurred before election day, during voting, and after vote counting. The alleged violations included manipulation of the voter list and disorder in the voting process. The Petitioners also submitted the jurisprudence of the Court Decision No. 16/PHP.BUP-XIX/2021 as the legal basis for the Court had ordered a revote at several polling stations due to alleged double voters.

Therefore, in the petitums, the Petitioners requested the Court to grant their petition and annul the Pagar Alam City KPU Decree No. 279 concerning the certification of the 2024 Pagar Alam mayoral election results, and to order a revote at the problematic polling stations.

Author         : Utami Argawati
Editor          : Lulu Anjarsari P.
PR              : Tiara Agustina
Translator    : Syifa Amelia

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesians version will prevail.

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